Liquor Licenses at Trump Golf Courses in New Jersey Could Be Taken Away After Manhattan Fraud Conviction

By Becca Lower | 9:22 PM on June 10, 2024

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There was anticipation in the media over the weekend that some news might develop involving former President Donald Trump, with him attending (virtually) a presentencing interview on Monday, along with his attorney, with a New York probation officer tasked with submitting a report to Judge Juan Merchan, for him to consider while deciding on sentencing in the Manhattan business fraud trial. As RedState reported on May 30th, Trump was convicted of all 34 charges, for which he could receive probation and up to four years in prison. The sentencing hearing with Merchan is scheduled to take place on July 11th.

According to sources, though, the meetup reportedly took about 30 minutes, and there was nothing noteworthy about what took place during the short interview. But now, it appears progressives in the neighboring state of New Jersey are looking to catapult the verdict in the Manhattan case into more financial burdens for the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee and his businesses.

via AP:

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey’s attorney general’s office is looking into whether Donald Trump’s recent felony convictions in New York make him ineligible to hold liquor licenses at his three New Jersey golf courses.
...
A spokeswoman for the office said Monday that it is reviewing whether Trump’s conviction [in New York]....should impact the former president’s continued ability to hold liquor licenses.
Trump owns golf courses in Bedminster, Colts Neck and Pine Hill in New Jersey, each of which has an active liquor license.

Despite conventional wisdom that might be floating around, former Pres. Trump no longer owns any casinos in Atlantic City, so only the golf properties would be affected.

The attempt to take away Trump's liquor licenses appears to turn on a stipulation in the Garden state's law that "prohibits anyone from holding a liquor licenses [sic] who has been convicted of a crime 'involving moral turpitude.'”

AP's review of the division's handbook showed that “the term `moral turpitude’ denotes a serious crime from the viewpoint of society in general and usually contains elements of dishonesty, fraud or depravity.”

In an email to the AP, a spokeswoman for a division of the state AG's office, the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, said the office “is reviewing the impact of President Trump’s conviction on the above referenced licenses, and declines further comment at this time.”

So far, there has been no comment from either the Trump campaign or the Trump Organization. We'll keep you posted on where this goes from here, since it is a developing story.